Silk Road

The Silk Road is a collective name given to a few trade routes linking the Chinese and Roman Empires. All sorts of commodities passed along it but silk was for centuries one of its mainstays, since silk production remained a mystery for a long time. Hence the name: Silk Road.

The ancient traffic went in both directions; not only China imported grapes, glass, amber, saffron but during the Tang Dynasty, but also “alien” faiths including Buddhism from India and later on, Islam from the Middle East came through this route. The starting-point for Chinese exports was the, at that time, imperial capital, of Xi’an (or Chang’an as it was then). Goods were transported by camel through Gansu and Xinjiang from oasis to oasis on Chinese soil.

Originated around 130 BC, the Silk Road started loosing its significance by the 16th century as the great empires declined and as maritime trade took the place of caravans. Oasis towns along thousands of miles whose existence had depended on trade, were left to bask in the desert sun until their rediscovery by 19th-century adventurers and the current generation of travelers (read: tourists).

Our trip started in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. It took us over 6 hours to fly from Shanghai to Urumqi to give a perspective of the distance. In 12 days, we slowly but surely worked our way back eastward by plane, train or bus and finished the Silk Road trip in Xi’an. We visited cities like Turpan, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, Lanzhou and Xining in between along the way and made several side trips.

One place of note in Urumqi is the museum but photography of any kind was strictly prohibited there. Loulan Beauty, one of the oldest mummies in the world, is displayed there. The dry arid desert air created the mummification of a 35-40 year old woman with a fair complexion that used to live nearby in Loulan approximately 4,000 years ago and the process took place completely by accident. The preservation of the mummy is remarkable especially since no organs were removed. Without any doubt, one of the main attractions during this trip are the Mogao grottos in Dunhuang where we spent basically the entire day. A traveling monk saw Buddha’s bright light (foguang) behind the hill while resting nearby. To commemorate the spot he erected a Buddha shrine and what started out as simple became more and more elaborate over the centuries. Impressive statues and frescoes were built and painted in excavated grottos. Asparas or graceful flying angels/fairies are frequently depicted on the frescos. Again, photography of any kind is prohibited. While I understood and respected that but, to my chagrin, I had to walk away with only shots of fresco remains on the outside wall.

Technical Note:For the first time, I went for broke and took two digital systems on an extended trip; a rangefinder (Leica M8 plus 5 lenses) and an SLR (Canon 1Ds MarkII plus 3 zoom lenses). Both systems performed flawlessly and reliably. While used interchangeably, I relied on the Leica system to capture street scenes and environmental portraits. The night market in Urumqi, where the Leica was exclusively used, was a perfect example for this. People would frown and might be intimidated had I pointed an SLR with a huge lens at them. On the other hand, it would be impossible for me to capture the colorful shows on-stage without the Canon's IS and its extended reach. For anything else, it is pretty much a toss up. Although I took both systems practically each day but I anticipated what system to use for each outing, set that system ready and relied on that. On occasion, I switched systems along the way, as needed. The time displayed on the EXIF data is Pacific Standard Time.

It is very difficult to capture beautifully composed images with perfect lighting if you travel in a group, which is not designed for photography. Picture opportunities are plenty but the lighting conditions are not always the best, and mostly too harsh. I tried to put more emphasis on photographic quality of the selected images, rather than documenting the completeness of the trip, but due to time limitation, it was not always feasible. In addition, distant landscape shots, especially near large cities, have those distinctive haze veils, vastly attributed to the explosive industrial growth in China.

I hope you enjoy the images of this gallery as I did taking them during this memorable trip following the ancient trade route. Please feel free to leave comments on this gallery or on the individual images and if you feel it deserves your vote, please do so. Thank you for visiting.

Dear Dr. Joshua Ong,
Your Antarctica pictures of course were much better than mine. These photos of your Silk Road travels in China (some at the same places we went) are like love letters that bring out emotions.
Thank you for sharing them,
Don